While it is tempting to just swim in the pool or walk to the beach everyday, we thought we should explore the area. Since our beach is decidedly not dog friendly, the dog beach at Fort De Soto was worth exploring. The first thing you see there are cannons.
We paid $5 to park and to be honest, the military history was not much to see. From what I can tell, Fort De Soto was active from 1898 to 1910. At least one company was present at Fort De Soto at all times and many times several units were present. As you can imagine, mosquitos were a constant problem and the post was very hot in the summer. In 1910, most of the Army troops were moved from Fort De Soto to Fort Morgan, Alabama which I visited last November.
Here are a couple photos from the Gulf Beaches Museum that I will feature in an upcoming newsletter. For new subscribers, there is also a link to my earlier post about Fort Morgan which had a lot more Gulf military history.
Fort De Soto is much more than canons. It is the largest park within the Pinellas County Park System and consists of 1,136 acres. It is home to beach plants, mangroves, wetlands, palm hammocks, hardwoods and scores of native plants. It is also a great spot for bird lovers and provides refuge to the loggerhead sea turtle, which nests between April and September.
At the dog beach, many dogs were enjoying the ocean. We grabbed a quick photo and headed to lunch. We found the Island Grille and Raw Bar listed in Bring Fido. It is in Tierra Verde and had a lovely patio. We both enjoyed some seafood. I had a shrimp BLT which was a perfect summer lunch spent on the Gulf.
The map below gives some context around the area. Ft. DeSoto is at the very bottom.
Lots of dogs love to swim. Kimset, not so much. But she loves a good restaurant patio.